Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 226
Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā
Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties
अधिभूतं तथा गन्धो वायुस्तत्राधिदैवतम् । पृथ्वी पाँचवाँ भूत है। नासिका उसका अध्यात्म, गन्ध उसका अधिभूत और वायु उसका अधिदैवत कहा जाता है
adhibhūtaṁ tathā gandho vāyus tatrādhidaivatam |
বায়ুদেব বললেন—“এখানে গন্ধই অধিভূত, আর বায়ু তার অধিদৈবত।” পৃথিবী পঞ্চম ভূত; নাসিকা তার অধ্যাত্ম, গন্ধ তার অধিভূত, এবং বায়ু তার অধিদৈবত বলে কীর্তিত।
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
It maps perception into a threefold framework: the external object (adhibhūta: smell/fragrance), the divine regulator (adhidaivata: Vāyu), and implicitly the inner faculty (adhyātma, understood here as the nose/smell-sense). This encourages disciplined awareness and sense-restraint by recognizing a cosmic order behind sensory experience.
Vāyu-deva is instructing the listener in a doctrinal exposition on the elements and senses, specifying which external object and which presiding deity correspond to the domain of smell.